Remembering
Hendricks Field
S U P E R S E B R I N G 2 0 1 9
Sebring International Raceway
evolved from Hendricks Field, a
WWII USAAF base that operated
126
1941-1945. The base trained
B-17 combat crews and support
personnel such as mechanics,
communication and navigation
specialists..
Hundreds of combat air crews
were trained here in Sebring
and sent to Europe and the
Pacific. Approximately 20
never returned – a sobering
thought and a reminder of the
sacrifices that generation made.
Always remember that Sebring
International Raceway was originally
an important military base
that helped win the war.
What follows are excerpts from
an original Hendricks Field document
detailing the early history of
this site.
On June 13, 1941, whatwas destined
to become Hendricks Field
was just a huge tract of land about
seven miles southeast of Sebring.
On that day the War Department
announced that the tract-sandy,
palmetto-covered, marshy,
almost surrounded by lakes and
a creek – had been selected as
the site for a Basic Flying School.
Training was scheduled to begin
in November.
To have the field laid out, buildings
constructed, equipment and
personnel on hand by November
looked like a big order. An army
of workmen converged on the
site, the sounds of hammers and
saws, bulldozers, draglines, etc.,
were heard. Day and night the
army worked unceasingly. There
was something in the air; what it
was only those in the know knew
– and they wouldn’t tell. It was
something big.
Not long after the expected
training date had passed, Major
Rodieck was transferred to
Washington, and Major Carl B.
McDaniel, who subsequently
was promoted to Colonel, was
assigned as Commanding
Officer.
About the close of 1941 the initial
construction program was completed
and the contractors were
preparing to move their equipment
elsewhere when an order
came through to expand the building
program. Then it was revealed
that the yet unnamed field would
not be used for basic training. It
was to become a Combat Crew
Training School and instead of
BT’s flying around over the prairie
tract,
the B-17’s (Flying
Fortresses) would wing their way
over the land that once had been
the home of ducks stopping off
on their way from the north to
the warmer clime of Southern
Florida, and of herons, cranes,
quail, snipe and other game birds:
and the home of deer and rabbits
– and, no doubt of rattlesnakes
and moccasins.